Device for removing semisolid oleaginous materials from containers



W. B. FOGH. DEVICE FOR REMOVING SEMISOLID OLEAGINOUS MATERIALS FROM CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I2, IQIB. 1 50,598. Patented Aug. 24, 1920..

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w. B. FOGH. DEVICE FOR REMOVING SEMISOLID QLEAGINOUS MATERIALS FROM CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I2, 1918. 1 3 5 59 Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

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W. B. FOGH.

DEVICE FOR REMOVING SEMISOLID OLEAGINOUS MATERIALS FROM CONTAINERS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. I2. 1918.

1 350,598. Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

3 SHEE'ISSHEEI 3 40 f w A3 V 51 M k ,m, II HIIII I 1m E uucnfoz UNITED STATES WALTER :8. EDGE, OF,SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters; Patent.

Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

Application filed August 12, 1918. Serial No. 249,488.

T 0 all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVALTER B. FoGH, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of Seattle, county of King, and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Removing Semisolid Oleaginous Materials from Containers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus which is designed for heating-cans or other containers which at the time contain semi-solid oleaginous or other materials, which may be liquefied by the application of heat.

The object of my invention is to provide means whereby materials'of this character may be cheaply and thoroughly removed from containers thereof.

The features of my invention which I consider to be new and upon which I desire patent, will be hereinafter described and then particularly defined by the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my device constructed in a simple form but containing the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 shows in plan view the heating members of my device, with a number of emptied containers thereon.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on a plane running parallel with the heating pi es.

ig. 3 is an elevation, the line of view being parallel with the headers and the construction being shown as a section for a portion of the width thereof.

It is at the present time customary to ship certain semi-solid oleaginous products. such for instance as cocoanut oil, in cans. These are filled at the'point'of original production of the oil and when these cans are landed in this country their contents are removed from the cans and placed in tanks, or tank cars, for storage or shipment, and at other times in containers of other form and size.

The only manner of removing such contents from cans in athorough manner is to heat the contents until melted and the cans have been thoroughly drained. The cans now most commonly employed for holding such materials for shipment from primary sources, are cans which have been before used for holding kerosene oil, being cans which are square in cross section, each holding five gallons.

The manner of emptying the contents of such cans is to cut the heads, either on three sides or on four, as the case may be, and fold the same against the side of the can. In handling such semi-solid oils as those referredto, the portion of the heads which are cut out are either removed entirely from the cans, if out upon four sides, or if out upon three sides, the head is bent outward and down against one side.

In the drawings 1 represents the body of such a can, and 10 the section of an end which has been cut out and bent back until it lies against one side of the can. This leaves the can without any head in one or both ends, as the case may be.

As the means for heating such a can after it has its head cut, I provide a melting or heating chamber in which are placed a series of chutes upon which the cans are placed on end, and heat the same to a point where the contents have all been melted and run out of the can.

, Fig. 1 shows in plan view a section of the chutes of the type of construction which I prefer. These employ two headers, 2 and 3, one of which is a steam supply header and the other a drainage header. These two headers are placed at opposite sides of a heating or melting chamber. This chamber is provided with a roof, as 15, which is preferably kept fairly close down to the upper end of the cans 1.

The two headers, 52 and 3, are connected by pipes 4 and 40, placed close together and parallel with each other. These pipes are preferably connected with the headers by downwardly extending end sections, as 41, and the construction of the pipes is such that no projections are to be found in the length of the chute where the same is engaged by the cans.

Certain of these pipes, as the pipes 40, are placed at a greater distance from the headers than the majority of the pipes 4. The pipes 4 form the bottom of the chutes and the pipes 40, which are at a higher level, form the side or guide rails of said chutes. Steam at a pressure such as will give the necessary degree of temperature to insure the required rate of melting in the product, is supplied to one of the headers, as 2.

The cans, before being placed in the melting or heating chamber, have their heads out, the cut portion 10 being bent back against the side of the can, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

The chutes formed by the pipes 4c-and 40,

are referablv iven a sli ht incline as is u b b 7 clearly shown in Fig.2. The filled cansare delivered along one end of the series of chutes, preferably by some form of con:

veyer. In Figs. 2 and 3, I have indicated aconveyer which employs rolls 5 which will be turned by the cans in their passage there over. r

The cans, with their heads previously cut, are placed in the chutes formed by the pipes 4L and 40. The steam keeps these pipes heated well above the point of melting of the contents of the can. In consequence,

' the block formed by the contents of the can,

gets melted about its outer edge and settles downwardly. The pipes l, beneath the can, being very'hot will quickly heat the can enough to securethis result. The pipes lO being at a higher level serve as guides for the cans, keeping them in proper relation and also serve to heat the'sides of the cansand assist in the melting of their-contents.

Extending entirely beneath all 1 of the pipes 4t and 40, isa trough or vat, as 6, into which the melted material drops and by which it is either conveyed to a tank at an 7 adjacent point, or in which it is held until a s'uflicient quantity has been accumulated and it may be pumped into the next container, as for instance, a storage tank or a tank car.

The cans, after being thus heated, are thoroughly drained and freedfrom all'traces of the oil, excepting a purely surface film which is retained by adhesion. Thechutes formedby the heating pipes are slightly inclined to reduce the effort necessary to pipes, a series of spaced apart heating pipes extending between and communicating with the header pipes; and forming guideways wherein containers may be forwarded over a receiving vat.

3. A device for removing semi-solid materials which are liqu'efiable by heat from their containers, comprising a pair of parallel and separated header pipes,'heating pipes extending between said header pipes and having a downwardly extending section at each end connecting with-the header pipes, said heating pipes comprising certain pipes which form the floor of the chutes and other pipes at a higher level which form guard rails at the sides of the individual chutes.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 6th day of August, 1918. v

WALTER B. 'FOGH. 

